Magic (Lorica)
Introduction The world of Lorica is filled with a near-endless variety of magic. The capacity for this magic is in a great number of species that are home to Lorica - life forms called faera that can use their moieta - what they are made of - to interact with the real world. The interaction between the light matter of the real world and the dark matter of the world of faera, gives rise to magic. The world of faera is a world of secrets hiding in plain sight, a world of wonder, where those with the curiosity and creativity to take advantage of moieta can craft potions, artifacts, spells and enchantments out of them. Such people are spellshapers, for they design their spells; theirs is an art and a science; their discoveries and inventions are the scientific and technological advancements of the world. The world of faera is intricate and complex without end, and the potentially endless variety of magic reflects this versatility. Disambigulation What is considered "magic" is different things: *Any working of what cannot be seen (commoner's definition) *Creation of new spells (mage's definition) *anchemy, or anchemistry, physical/chemical process relating chemicals with alchemicals (scientist's definition) Magic: Commoner's Definition What is considered "magic" by commoners (leypeople), is simply anything that involves what cannot be seen. This has the consequence that anyone slinging a wand about casting spells is said to be "casting magic". Usually this means they're right on the mark in identifying instances of anchemy. As far as commoners are concerned, it is hazardous to have anything to do with what can't be seen, and the same would go for those who meddle in such arcane matters. And their common wisdom is right about that, too: What they can't see can very easily kill them (or otherwise harm them). One could also think of this definition of magic as "anything they don't understand, they call magic", which is pretty much true since if someone really did understand magic, they're likely to be a member of a maging community, in which case yes, they'd have a very different definition of what it means to be making magic. Magic: Mage's Definition Mages, on the other hand, have a much more particular notion of what magic means.. or rather, ought to mean. For them, magic is a spell known to only a few, a spell to which access is restricted. This is contrasted to "common spells", which are well-circulated, well-known spells that mages in all the mages' guilds are familiar with. This distinction is very important to mages; it is a violation of one of the highest laws of the maging community to be using spells that should only be known to a handful of people, if the person using it does not belong to that handful and has no business using that spell. It is generally used in an accusatory tone to say that someone is using magic but shouldn't (and who thus needs to be investigated), as in "that man is casting magic". Magic for them is divided into two types: Low Magic Low magic includes any magic spell (according to the mages' definition) that doesn't fall under the six categories of guild-specific spells. Generally, its use as distinguished from high magic is only in terms of severity of stealing magic, where the severity of stealing low magic is less than that of stealing high magic. Almost all spells that are considered low magic are spells devised by mages in one of the guilds. High Magic High magic is any magic spell that falls under one of the six categories of guild-specific spells. The guilds guard their high magic zealously, and are known to start very serious investigations into any believed infraction of their monopoly knowledge over such spells.